Elden Ring - Review 2025 | How good is the open world, really?
293Is the open world of Elden Ring actually good, and does it improve the Soulsborne formula? This 2025 review/critique/analysis examines these questions with regards to level design, exploration, tension, risk-versus-reward, challenge, character progression, etc, in terms of how these aspects differ in Elden Ring versus the other FromSoftware games (Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne). While the open world does bring a lot of fun novelty to the classic formula, and the open world itself is extremely impressive in many regards, it does feel like it detracts from the formula in certain ways by de-emphasizing some aspects that have traditionally been the core appeal of this series. There's also the question of whether the world itself is too big, or if it's filled with enough unique and interesting content to justify a lengthy completionist playthrough. It's a fun, high-quality game that's absolutely worth playing, but I don't believe it to be the flawless masterpiece that the media crowned it on release, and in some ways I actually prefer some of the other Soulsborne games.
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0:00:00 - Intro
0:04:53 - Level Design and Exploration
0:10:51 - Markers and Guidance Systems
0:15:15 - Scale and Map Design
0:19:01 - Structured Non-Linearity
0:23:56 - Leveling and Progression
0:29:16 - Difficulty Balancing
0:33:50 - Tension and Risk-versus-Reward
0:39:16 - Repeated Bosses
0:44:00 - Repetitive Filler Content
0:50:12 - Gameplay Loop Variety
0:53:39 - Open World Fatigue, Tedious End-Game
0:58:12 - Legacy dungeons and Underground Areas
1:01:04 - Quests and NPCs
1:07:24 - Features and Mechanical Evolution
1:12:29 - Convenants and Online multiplayer
1:16:02 - Quality of Life Improvements
1:19:12 - Lore and Storytelling
1:21:29 - Conclusion
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#EldenRing #FromSoftware